One Month Home.....

and Happy Easter!!!! Yesterday we celebrated Easter with little Jae-min. The bunny was very good to him and he enjoyed the day with family.
Yesterday also marked one month home from Korea. Jae-min wasn't feeling well this weekend with alittle cold and chest congestion so we had hoped to celebrate alittle more. Oh well, we'll have many more months to celebrate. Jae-min has changed so much in just a month its mind boggling. He's doing SO much more developmentally which makes all of our hard work worthwhile. He's also changing physically with more hair, two teeth, and some extra pounds!! He looks so different from when we met him in Korea.
All in all we had a great one month anniversary. Happy easter to everyone and here's hoping little Jae-min feels better soon.

We Met The Easter Bunny!!!!

This past weekend we took Jae-min to meet the Easter Bunny and it was a success!!!! He did well and was so cute looking up at this BIG rabbit, then looking to us for approval. We snapped some pictures and the meeting was done. Whala first encounter with the big bunny, check. Now we can't wait for his first encounter with the big man in red!!!
We also went to church for the first time this weekend and the priest was thrilled to see us. He gave Jae-min alittle blessing and then welcomed him in front of the congregation at the end of the service. It was an awesome moment, as everyone started clapping and congratulating us. We felt so supported and Jae-min did awesome, cooing and smiling at everyone. He was definately a hit!!!
We're still working on sleep as this omma and appa are in a fog most days still. Some day we'll get it, someday. Keep us in your thoughts at 11,1,2.3.4 am that we make it to the sun comes up. He's just fussing and we think he has gas. We contacted the doctor and they think we're doing everything right, so all we need is time. We have plenty of that, don't we?
So, church check, Easter bunny, check Sleep not so much!!!! Maybe that big bunny can bring Jae-min sweet dreams for Easter.

We Graduated!!!!

Last night we attended our last waiting family meeting as a family of THREE!!! It's a tradition when you come home to attend your last meeting as a family and we had a great time. Everyone was so excited to see us and there was alot of great news all around. The mood of the meeting was so uplifting and it was just what I needed as I've begun to go a little stir crazy staying close to home. We also got to meet up with our friends who traveled the week before us to bring their daughter home and we got to see their sweet little Allie. Jae-min and Allie loved each other and it was so adorable to watch them together. It was almost like they knew each other in Korea. She and I have been talking almost daily and offering each other support so it was fun to share this with them. Another family bought a cake to welcome home Allie and Jae-min. All in all it was an awesome night!!!

We're going to miss these "friends"and wish we could continue to share in their exciting news. We have many of their emails though, so hope to keep in touch. The facilitator hugged us and told us she'd see us soon for baby number two.........we'll see about that!!!!

Jae-min (isms)

Another week has gone by and we can't believe Jae-min has been home for 2 weeks now. Sometimes it feels like he's been here forever, and sometimes it feels like it's only been a blink of an eye. It just continues to boggle our minds that we actually flew to Korea to pick up this little love!!!
He continues to grow each and every day. He's doing so many new things its amazing. He's really started to snuggle more and open his mouth for kisses (yes, drooly kisses are the best). He's become very interactive and will "chat" at you to get your attention and then giggle. He's very vocal and loves to imitate different sounds. He loves books and really scans the pages and attends nicely (he's definately mine huh?). He also has become very animated and when you shake his bottle he shrieks and waves his arms and legs in excitement. We went grocery shopping today and Joe was carrying him around the store and every time I went around the corner he would look for me and when he saw me again he'd give me the grin and shriek. A very good sign for attachment!!!!
Jae-min's motor continues to be behind, but we're working on it. He loves our floor time!!! His sleeping has gotten better (knock on wood) and we think he's feeling more comfortable. We hope this pattern we're in continues.....no more night time crankies. We're in a nice routine for naps and bed in his crib and we hope it continues. Fingers crossed. We're enjoying our new roles as parents. How could you not when you hear that silly belly laugh?

Settling In...........

It's been a whirlwind week of settling in to parenthood. Aside from teething, constipation, and a few crankies at 2am we're doing ok. We're really trying to tweek Jae-min's schedule to make it easier for him (and all of us) and some of the tweeking has worked. He remains smiley, giggly, has great eye contact, and pretty happy much of the time. He's decided he only likes to sleep from 8-12 at night and then bring on the crankies!!!!! We've begun to do things alittle differently in the middle of the night to settle him back down. We shall see how it goes. All I know is I've been living in a fog full of dizzy spells for the past week. I'm hoping it's just lack of sleep and food thats bringing on the dizzies!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed the room stops spinning soon.
We had our first post placement visit today and she thought he's adjusting great. He gave her his huge toothless grins and belly laughs and she was just in love. She wanted to take him with her!!! We fought to keep him though haha.
So, all in all these first time parents are learning as they go. Those smiles sure do melt a mamma's heart (even with little to no sleep). I guess he's already got us wrapped around those chubby little fingers!!!!!!!1

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is the only word to describe the last week and a half of our lives!!!! To think last week we were in Korea, meeting our son, and now we are home with the most amazing boy ever who is a perfect fit for our family. Jae-min seems to be adjusting so well we are in awe. For two years we read about difficulty with attachment, tantrums, fears, and overall difficulty initially and we haven't experienced any of it yet. We are alittle nervous, sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to start all of the things we were prepared for. As of now he's eating great, laughing, smiling, and yes even sleeping in his crib!!! We have cuddle, bottle time and then put him to bed semi awake and pat his tummy and whala he's asleep. He wakes up "chatting" and singing and when he sees us he smiles from ear to ear. It's amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're prepared for some bumps in the road, but hope that his easygoing personality is just shining through.
Jae-min is already doing more developmentally than he was three days ago. Every day I see something new and he's working hard on the skills we're showing him. He's begun to pat our shirt and hold our finger when we give him a bottle which is priceless. The bonding is definately progressing, although we know it's a process. We feel like he bonded to us immediately though.
All in all we couldn't have asked for anything more. When I sit back and think that we were in Korea this time last week it boggles my mind. And when I sit back and marvel at this child who was chosen as our son I am speechless. If you had told me two years ago that all we went through would bring us here, I wouldn't have believed it. Yet now I'm a true believer.
Jae-min is one amazing little boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're Home.......

Safe and sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We made it home last night after our journey around the world. The flight home was bearable and Jae-min did ok for a little baby on a 14 hour plus flight. We've begun to settle in and saw some grieving from him at night. The good news is that so far he allows us to help him through the grief and we can settle him rather quickly. We've noticed he looks for us for comfort and we're thinking bonding and attachment is under way. We know its a process with ups and downs but we're optimistic by how quickly we can settle him and really seem to know the tricks and his cues as to what he needs already. All in all he's still a happy, smiley, guy who loves to play and interact. He's doing great with his "brother" Martin and Martin just wants to lick him (which makes changing duty difficult Haha) We still have that surreal feeling that he is here to stay. But we'll take him!!!!
His pediatrician appointment was today and he did great. We love the office and she thought he's looking great for his adjusted age. We've already noticed some new developmental things he's now doing that he wasn't doing a few days ago. Joe calls him my "little project" and he's a great project to undertake.
As we left Korea I broke down at the airport with all of the emotions of the trip surfacing at once. We were leaving Jae-min's birthcountry, taking him away from everything he knew. And we had to get on a plane, as first time parents, with a baby we hardly knew, and figure it all out in front of 300 captive onlookers. But, with our strength and bond for one another we made it through. I have no doubt in my mind this was how our family was supposed to be. I have no doubt in my mind that Jae-min was always meant for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!